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UNDER THE RAINBOW

AVAILABLE NOW

When outsiders on a mission arrive to change a small town’s attitudes, residents and newcomers alike end up transformed.

Big Burr, Kansas is the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone—or so they think. But when a national nonprofit labels Big Burr “the most homophobic town in the U.S.” and sends in a queer task force to live and work there for two years, no one is prepared for what will ensue. 

Still grieving the death of her son, Linda welcomes the newcomers, who know mercifully little about her past. Teenage Avery, furious at being uprooted from her life in L.A. and desperate to fit in at her new high school, fears it’s only a matter of time before her classmates discover her mom is the head of the task force. And Gabe, an avid hunter who has lived in Big Burr his whole life, suddenly feels as if he’s in the crosshairs.

As tensions roil the town, cratering relationships and bringing difficult truths to light, both longtime residents and new arrivals must reconsider what it means to belong. Told with warmth and wit, Under the Rainbow is a poignant, hopeful articulation of our complicated humanity and the ways we can learn to live with each other and ourselves. 

Praise for Under the Rainbow

“Laskey composes elegant portraits of each character, drawing us into intimate worlds that pulse with light and sound… these individuals will come together in ways that leave them forever altered; a few will even grow to recognize the humanity in people they’ve long reviled. In Laskey’s artful hands this moral is delivered with such conviction and grace that it somehow feels fresh, and, thus, essential.” - The New York Times Book Review

“Intimate and psychologically keen… In the case of Under the Rainbow, a fragmentary structure works, underscoring how emotional change happens in individual and complicated ways. The organization is not uniformly heroic, nor are the locals uniformly buffoonish. Though there’s something like a happily ever after, it’s modest and hard fought for… Laskey’s vision of inclusion is all-encompassing. It’s also alert to how halting and surprising the path can be.” - The Los Angeles Times Book Review

“We gain a window into multiple minds, unforced and lacking in agenda, a surprising and refreshing thing in a book whose agenda does seem clear… Under the Rainbow will ring true for a wide audience, regardless of gender expression and sexuality, for its wry humor and universal truths.” - Lambda Literary

“Resonant, complex, and heartfelt… Laskey has chops, because this book works on pretty much every level. Will resonate with any reader who wants a really meaty, funny, and fast-paced novel.” - LitHub 

“Laskey inhabits each of these characters with skill and grace in a tour de force of first-person narration... Energetic and compelling, a promising first book from a writer to watch.” – Kirkus Reviews

“At turns melancholy, bittersweet, and even buoyant, the stories constitute a kind of queer, twenty-first-century Our Town that, in this revisionist exercise, is deeply satisfying. A fine first novel.” - Booklist

“Celia Laskey's Under the Rainbow is a timely look into what it means to be queer in spaces that aggressively refuse you. Smart and compulsively readable, Laskey has woven together narratives that seek to embrace each other through the hurt. There is love and loss alike sandwiched in its pages; pain and pleasure. Laskey is a talented, sharp writer and her debut novel has its fingers on the pulse of the human condition.” - Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things

“Under the Rainbow marks the arrival of a wildly talented, observant, political, feminist writer to the literary ranks. Celia Laskey is a true original, and she’s here to stay.” - Emily Rapp Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Still Point of the Turning World

“Celia Laskey has written an excellent, big-hearted, and very funny novel about our contemporary divisions and grievances. Under the Rainbow is wonderfully current, yet it refuses to sacrifice love or empathy to politics, it refuses despair and destruction. Those of us who moved away from the rural places where we were born will recognize every one of her remarkable characters, and find in their braided stories incredible pathos and joy.” - Shannon Pufahl, author of On Swift Horses

“Under the Rainbow, Celia Laskey’s irresistible debut about Big Burr, Kansas, “the most homophobic town in the US,’ offers everything that I come to a novel hoping for: an intriguing premise, relevant social commentary, a fully developed and compelling host of characters, compassion and humor, and exceptional storytelling. Laskey writes from both inside and outside Big Burr, taking the reader through a range of responses: surprise, anger, heartbreak, and, finally, recognition. Under the Rainbow is the best sort of novel, one that leaves you sad it’s over but already looking forward to the author’s next.” - Lori Ostlund, author of After the Parade

“I absolutely love this book. With wit and empathy, Celia Laskey has written a kaleidoscopic portrait of queer, rural life at a crossroads. Some of the people who populate Under The Rainbow feel stuck where they are, some uproot their lives to help enact change, while others are trying to run away. Laskey explores each of their inner lives with precision and grace. The result is a novel that made my heart feel full. She shows us that the power of love and understanding can be transformative— not only can it alter the trajectory of a life, it can change an entire community.” - Joseph Cassara, author of The House of Impossible Beauties